Newark Mayor Cory Booker kicks off re-election campaign

Saed Hindash/The Star-LedgerNewark Mayor Cory Booker waves to the crowd before delivering his state of the city address in February. Booker kicked off his re-election campaign today.

NEWARK — Newark Mayor Cory Booker kicked off his re-election campaign today, touting crime reductions, parks expansions, and new schools among the reasons to re-elect him and his slate of incumbent candidates.

"Let the work I’ve done speak for me," Booker said yesterday, sounding the same theme throughout his remarks this morning at the New Hope Baptist Church. A crowd of nearly 1,000 supporters came out for Booker as he cited a laundry list of accomplishments during his administration and that of the current city council.

"None of it would have been accomplished by the mayor alone," Booker said, adding that a "united government" was crucial to what he cited as continued progress.

Several city council members are facing tough political challenges in the May election. Their contenders include Ras Baraka, John Sharpe James, Charon Motayne, Darrin Sharif, and Richard Whitten. Booker led off in defense of incumbents Oscar James II, Charles Bell and Carlos Gonzalez, but made pitches for every member of his team.

"If you don’t vote for that ward councilman or that at-large councilman, I do not want your vote," he said.

Booker did not attack any of the challengers by name, but dismissed the major criticisms his opponents have leveled throughout the campaign. Among the most persistent are accusations that Booker has brought in "outsiders," and that he spends too much time outside of the city.

Clifford Minor, who is running to unseat the mayor, could not be reached for comment.

But in a recent forum on the South Ward race, Baraka accused the mayor of hiring non-Newark residents for well-paid city jobs. "How can you watch unemployment in the community and watch him give his friends raises and lay workers off in the city of Newark?" he said to thunderous applause.

"We have to stop this mess," Booker said about the "outsider" charge. "Everyone of God’s children is important."

Booker has repeatedly defended his travel, citing millions of dollars in philanthropic donations he has brought to Newark from figures like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates.

"We created the state’s largest fund for the expansion of charter schools," Booker said as well as "the largest parks expansion Newark has seen in a century."

Much of the parks expansion is also credited to Essex County executive Joseph DiVincenzo, who joined North Ward Center founder Stephen Adubato Sr., state assembly members Alberto Coutinho, Grace Spencer, Cleopatra Tucker, and other state and city leaders at today's rally.

Also onstage was Booker’s mother, Carolyn Booker, who introduced her son with recollections from his youth and a mild shot at the 40-year-old mayor.

"Behind every successful child there are often two very astonished parents," she said.

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